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For Vendors, Opportunities Abound in L.A. County Government

For tech vendors seeking to do business with the largest county government in the nation, this week’s briefing with Los Angeles County’s IT decision-makers presented plenty of opportunities to take part in some major initiatives.

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For tech vendors seeking to do business with the largest county government in the nation, this week’s briefing with Los Angeles County’s IT decision-makers presented plenty of opportunities to take part in some major initiatives. 

L.A. County government has more than 100,000 people in its workforce and is serving a population of some 10 million — and it's building a new IT headquarters. That presents a target-rich environment for vendors. The county envisions a "workplace of the future," and in just one branch of the county Internal Services Division — Shared Services, led by Deputy General Manager Benny Chacko — those initiatives include: 

— Identity and Access Management.
— GIS Expansion.
— Business Relationship Management.
— Procurement Reform.
— Mobile/Web Development.
— Contact Center (artificial intelligence). 

Chacko outlined these initiatives for vendors Wednesday in a forum that also featured other L.A. County procurement executives — each of whom also has a project portfolio that includes opportunities. Serving alongside Chacko, the other three deputy GMs, and their respective areas of responsibility/procurement, are:

Robert King, responsible for Telecommunications including Unified Communications, Digital Directories and Chat Bots, and Enterprise Network.
Jac Fagundo, who oversees Computing Services, Containerization, and Data Threat Analytics.
Trinh Mac, whose oversight includes Data Analytics, Agile Development, and Cloud Native Development.

Chacko's tips for those seeking to do business with the county:
— Invest in understanding the business. Align product offerings with key strategies and goals for the department and the county overall.
— Build a relationship on trust and consistent delivery.
— Focus on developing a long-term relationship.
— Obsess over customer success for the county with an eye toward future expansion.
— Don’t push to sell licenses or services to meet a year-end sales target.
— Get on County Master Agreements and understand the procurement/solicitation process.

Other L.A. County procurement executives who addressed vendors, and whose initiatives will be reported by Techwire in coming days, included County CIO Bill Kehoe; Jerry Aoki, CIO of the county Department of Children and Family Services; Christina Nguyen, acting CIO of the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS); Del Benavides, acting division chief of the DPSS; Aman Bhullar, CIO of the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk; and Mohammed Al Rawi, CIO of the Department of Parks and Recreation.  

Dennis Noone is Executive Editor of Industry Insider. He is a career journalist, having worked at small-town newspapers and major metropolitan dailies including USA Today in Washington, D.C.